Research

A core tenet of high-quality care is the prevention of hospital-acquired conditions. These conditions—including CAUTI, CLABSI, pressure ulcers, and others—can dramatically increase length of stay and care costs, making them a high priority for hospital leaders. One such hospital-acquired condition that many organizations are working to eliminate is ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). VAP can be caused by such factors as poor hygiene and lack of movement while the patient is intubated.

One 350-bed medical center in California instituted changes to the way in which ventilated patients are managed and monitored, resulting in the elimination of VAP for a significant period of time, from an infection rate of 0.74 infections per 1,000 ventilation days in 2012 to 0 in 2014. In order to learn more about the processes driving this success, The Academy spoke with three RNs and infection preventionists from the organization.

Collaborative StandardizationA key factor in the hospital's successful prevention of VAP was redesign